


The Recovery

by Synchrony



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Angst, Canon - Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Pre-Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, References to Illness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-04
Updated: 2014-05-04
Packaged: 2018-01-21 19:19:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1561202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Synchrony/pseuds/Synchrony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ventus awakes at the Land of Departure, the road to recovery that stretches out before him is a long one. Luckily for him, he's got two new friends that won't give up on him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Recovery

**Author's Note:**

> Set after Master Xehanort brings Ven to the Land of Departure.

When Ventus awakes, he finds himself in a small sunny room decorated all over with colourful posters and trailing plants. There are two people by his bedside, speaking to him in gentle voices that don’t hide their obvious joy. They tell him they were worried about him. They tell him he’ll be living with them from now on, and that they want to show him around just as soon as he feels ready to get up.

The boy is Terra. The girl is Aqua. He remembers this and adds the new information to it, like laying foundations.

-

They’re obviously taking it easy on him, making sure not to overload him. They spend one day showing him the castle that’s to be his new home. Another day they guide him around the grounds, showing him the best places to train and the best views of the town and countryside. One night they go right up to the summit to watch the stars, and when the older two see how captivated he seems to be by the night sky, they start pointing out this constellation and that, trying to engage him without success. Later Aqua even gives him her old brass telescope so he can always watch the stars from his room, hoping to prompt him into conversation only to be disappointed.

He’s not ungrateful. The problem is, he’s not _anything_. Terra and Aqua are all colour and energy and determination; he’s just the disjointed shadow, pulled forward to trail alongside them instead of behind.

-

But they don’t give up. He’s been there nearly a month by the time they take him down to explore the market. It’s noisy and crowded and Ventus really doesn’t know what to make of it all, but suddenly Aqua’s looped her arm through his to guide him through the throngs of people and Terra (who somehow seems to be taller every time Ventus sees him) leads the way to the most interesting stalls. 

Somewhere between being loaded with various foods he apparently just had to try and checking out battle accessories being sold by some strange floating thing with a pompom bobbing from its head, they come across a stand full of intricate little woodcarvings. Terra laughs as he lifts down a strange painted mask; Aqua jokes that it looks like him in early morning training; and somehow it’s Ventus that ends up with it propped on his cabinet at the end of the day, the two of them deciding it made a perfect present from friends.

_Friends._ He tries the word out to himself when he’s alone that night. He’s barely said two words to them since arriving— truth be told, there’s nothing he _can_ say, as empty as he feels inside— yet somehow they’re still there at his door every morning, greeting him with bright smiles and plans for the day ahead. He’s not sure why they’re always there, always trying, always hopeful.

And yet... there’s something about that word that starts to pierce through the haze surrounding him, something that starts to lift the fog he sees the world through. He doesn’t understand it and sometimes he doesn’t even feel it, but now and then things start to feel a little clearer.

-

That’s not to say things are easy, of course. Terra and Aqua are both older than him, stronger, faster. Ventus trips over his own feet when he tries to copy Terra’s moves. He just doesn’t understand what Aqua says about channelling energy for magic. He seems to spend most of his time collapsed on grass or stone, aching and weary.

He knows they’ve been training far longer than he probably has. He knows he has a very long way to go before he could ever hope to match either of them. Sometimes it’s difficult to pick himself back up again, even when they’re both encouraging him.

-

There’s no simple solution, but when everything comes together, it does so quickly. What it takes is Aqua close by as Terra kneels down next to him, offering him his own prized wooden Keyblade and the words “you, me and Ven”.

_“You, me and Ven.”_ It brings with it a rush of memories, happy and warm even if none of them stretch back more than a couple of months. Something sparks inside him, setting off a small glow— faint for now, but definitely there.

And before he knows it, Ven is smiling. It’s only slight, but it’s a start and he knows that’s what counts.

As he reaches out to accept the Keyblade, he doesn’t think he’s ever seen his friends look happier.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on [tumblr](http://synchronyshattered.tumblr.com/) for more ramblings.


End file.
